Harry Potter and the Branches of Reality
by mk-not-r2d2
Summary: Harry Potter has defeated Voldemort, but at what cost? All of his friends have been captured by the Death Eaters as bait, and he is stuck somewhere where nothing is as it seems. Parallel Universe fic with a difference! Please R and R.
1. Prologue

A/N: This is something I've been thinking about writing for a while, because I do enjoy a good parallel universe fic! This won't be a SuperPoweredHarryFic or Slash though, because I find the former difficult to make believable and I just can't write slash (although I do like to read it so long as it's not PWP!). There may be some romance in this later on, but I can't promise anything. All suggestions/comments/reviews/questions/flames are accepted gratefully, I just like to know that someone, somewhere is reading.... Anyway, please read and review and let me know what you think. Future chapters will be longer, this is just a prologue.

Disclaimer: Everything you recognise comes from the wonderous brain of JK Rowling - anything you don't is mine, but it is rather inferior and unimportant when compared to her genius!

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**Harry Potter and the Branches of Reality**

**Prologue**

Pain. That was all he knew as he opened his eyes, slowly, ever so slowly, the tiny chink of light breaking through his lashes making him wince. Eventually, the boy forced open the lids, gasping a little at the bright sunlight bursting through, scalding his brain. Or so it felt.

Sunlight! That meant… that meant he was alive, at least. Although if it was this bright, perhaps this was some sort of afterlife. No. Whatever thoughts he had had about where you went when you died, it didn't include this amount of pain.

Unless he was in hell. But surely hell wouldn't be this bright?

The boy's thoughts were cut off by a loud, shrill voice, somewhere near the doorway.

'Aah, so you're awake! That's a good sign. Let's check you over, then, shall we?'

Whatever pronoun the lady had used, 'checking over' didn't seem to involve the boy much at all. He lay there, fiery pain making black pools encroach around his vision when she poked him and prodded him. Finally, the torture ended, and she leaned over him so he could see her.

'Hello there,' she said cheerily. 'We thought we'd lost you. How do you feel?'

Like I've been hit by a thousand stampeding hippogriffs, the boy wanted to say. Instead, he managed to force out one croaky word. 'Crap.'

The lady's face broke into a grin. Was she some kind of sadist, taking pleasure in his pain? The boy grimaced. But whilst she carried on speaking, she fiddled around behind him somewhere, and the pain did decrease. A little. 'Well, welcome back to the land of the living, and I can do something about the pain, certainly. But would you like to tell me your name?'

'Harry.' The word bubbled out of his lips before he really knew who he was himself. 'Harry Potter.'

And the moment he added his surname, he remembered everything.

A/N: Hit me with the reviews!


	2. Realisations and Memories

A/N: Aren't you lucky! Two updates in one day... don't expect this too often, it's just a sign of how bored I am today. Something seemed to happen to the disclaimer in the prologue, so as I'm sure you're aware anyway, I'd just like to point out I do not own these characters or settings. Except for the friendly muggle nurse in the prologue, of course! :)

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The room around him was white and clinical. He tried to move, to see where he was, but even the slightest attempt caused him to gasp. It felt as if his whole body was on fire. He groaned slightly. From what he could see, it was some sort of hospital, but it wasn't Hogwarts. Thinking about it, Harry doubted that he was in St Mungo's either. The woman had left when he had remembered. It was probably something to do with the screaming. And the fainting. He grimaced. But she didn't seem to be a Healer like they had a St Mungo's….

She hadn't been wearing robes, he recalled. _She hadn't been wearing robes!_

Harry groaned. He was in a Muggle hospital. No wonder everything still hurt. At least Madame Pomfrey would have done something about that. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the unpleasant pictures playing around his eyelids, and soon sleep overtook him.

_The high unpleasant laughter, which always accompanied the memories of his parents, jarred his senses in real life. Harry dodged a brilliant stream of purple light as a deadly curse shot past his ear, panting heavily. Voldemort's evil face appeared for a moment through the thick smoke from the burning wreckage of the room around them. The curses Harry had managed to miss had not had a good effect on their surroundings._

_It was the ones Harry hadn't been able to dodge that he was more worried about, although he was pretty certain his nemesis was in no better shape than himself. Blood ran down both their faces and their movement was sluggish, their reactions stilted. He was just fortunate that Riddle was as badly damaged as he, Harry thought wryly. _

_Harry whirled around as Tom shot another curse at him, and saw a Death Eater through the smoke. He had Hermione by the neck, and his wand was to her head._

_Harry gave a bloodcurdlingly cry and faced Voldemort square on._

'_Avada Kedavra!'_

Harry screamed and woke himself up, breathing heavily. The pain seemed to have dulled a little, although he was certain it was only temporary. He had heard the curses the (now late) Dark Lord had hit him with, and he was sure that the Muggles could do nothing for him. He had to get out of there, and fast, before it was too late.

Cautiously lifting his head, he looked around. So far so good. Nothing hurt too badly. Sitting upright, he swung his legs over the bed, groaning as the blood rushed to his head and his vision blacked out for a brief moment.

Harry took a deep breath, and stood up, his legs feeling weak. 'Strength, Potter,' he muttered, taking stock of his situation. The room and the corridor outside was dark. Moonlight streamed in through cracks in the office-style blinds. It looked like he'd chosen the best time to make his escape bid. If he could only get to somewhere near Hogwarts, anywhere at all. Or…

He mentally smacked his head. Grimmauld place! He could apparate there… Only now did he feel truly thankful that he had got his licence the moment he was 17. Harry just hoped he had the strength not to splinch himself. Concentrating, he closed his eyes. He had no idea where his wand was, but he had to try this. He'd done wandless magic before, though, hadn't he?

Imagining Grimmauld Place with all his might, he gasped out the incantation.

OoOoOoOoOo

Harry waited a few seconds after the familiar pulling sensation before opening his eyes, mentally checking over his body to see if he still had all his limbs. He was pretty sure he did. The pain was returning now, his skin crawling as if thousands upon thousands of tiny daggers were piercing it, and a deep ache was setting in to his very bones.

He forced his eyelids to part, and was relieved to be met by the familiar, if a little decrepit sight of Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Staggering a little, he forced himself to his feet. 'Just a few metres, Harry…' he told himself, his words slurring on his tired lips. Practically falling over the doorstep, he put all his weight into the doorbell, desperately trying to cling to consciousness. Just as the door opened, he lost his grip and fell forwards, not even noticing the shocked gasp of the person within.

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A/N: So whaddya think? ; ) Review me!


	3. Dreams and Awakenings

A/N: Thanks to those who have reviewed so far. I've included some review responses at the bottom, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Some of you may be glad to hear that it's a little longer.

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Strong arms were carrying him, lifting him over the doorstep of the house and inside. Harry could barely concentrate enough to stay awake, but he was dimly aware that there was something very important he had to tell whoever was holding him.

'Tell Dumbledore…' he murmured, and the arms shifted in surprise. Somewhere above him he heard voices. 'Tell Dumbledore I've done it, tell him… tell him Riddle is dead….'

He didn't know, really, why he used the name Riddle rather than Voldemort. Perhaps it was because, subconsciously, he knew that Voldemort was still a man, a human being, if barely. He had killed a man. He had killed him. But Dumbledore would know what he meant, anyway. 'Tell Dumbledore Riddle is dead…' he repeated once more, feebly.

Harry let go of the fragile thread of consciousness still holding him to reality and collapsed back into dreams, unaware of where he was or who was holding him.

_The Death Eater laughed cruelly as he pointed his wand at Hermione's head, one burly arm wrapped around her slender throat. Harry glanced from his best friend to Voldemort and back again, and made his decision, his eyes showing his sorrow. They were all going to die whatever he did, but maybe they had more of a chance if the leader was dead…_

_With an enraged cry, he shot the worst curse of all at Riddle._

_'Avada Kedavra!'_

_But his few seconds of hesitation had cost him time. In the background he could hear Hermione's screams as Voldemort cast the same curse at exactly the same time._

_Only Harry's rage could sustain it, as once more the wands joined with a beam of light, this time shining green with the combined energy of the two curses._

_How could he possibly keep up the strength to combat his enemy's curse, when Voldemort had so much more practice at casting it? Harry desperately tried to push the beads of emerald light towards the Dark Lord's wand. For a few agonizing moments, they stayed the same, the two wizards locked into a freeze-frame of desperation._

_But the thought of all of his friends held captive by the Death Eaters spurred Harry on. And perhaps Voldemort had thought it would be too easy to kill his nemesis. Perhaps he was no longer human enough to have enough raw emotion to move the beads towards Harry. Whatever the reason, like in Harry's 4th year, the glistening beads began, slowly, oh! so slowly , to inch their way towards the Dark Lord's wand._

'Shhh! Shh, it's alright!'

Anguished cries brought him back to the present. He opened his eyes heavily and squinted blearily at the person in front of him.

'Glasses?' he whispered, his voice cracking. His throat was so dry; he thought his lips would split at any moment.

'Oh!'

The voice sounded surprised, and strangely familiar; his glasses were pushed onto his nose and he peered through the thick lenses, trying to see who was with him. He coughed, trying to bring some comfort to his throat.

'Here,' the voice offered, and a glass with a straw floated into view. His vision was still hazy, and he blinked, trying to clear his view. As the cool water dribbled into his mouth, he concentrated on the person above him. Relief flooded through him as the familiar, comforting figure of Madame Pomfrey swam into sight. He was at Hogwarts! He could get help to rescue his friends!

'Madame Pomfrey!' he gasped. 'Did they tell Dumbledore? I got to Headquarters and tried to tell whoever found me, but I don't know whether I was making much sense…' He frowned. 'Who _did_ bring me here?'

The Mediwitch's hand stroked his forehead. 'Yes, yes, shh now, Dumbledore knows all about you,' she murmured. 'You need to rest. Drink this.'

Harry smiled inwardly at the familiar bossy tone, still too weak to resist as a potion was poured down his throat. 'Ron and Hermione and Remus….' he muttered anxiously as he drifted off into dreamless sleep. 'The Death Eaters… they've got them…'

He was asleep before he heard her reply.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Harry drifted in half consciousness before he awoke properly, aware of what was around him but serenely unconcerned. His mind wandered lazily back to Madame Pomfrey's words before he had fallen asleep. _Dumbledore knows all about you._ Thinking about it now, it seemed a strange way of phrasing things.

He was too sleepy to ponder much about anything at the moment, though, and he let his attention turn instead to what he could hear around him. Someone was talking quietly with the Mediwitch at the other end of the hospital wing, but he could make out snatches.

'Grimmauld Place… yes I know, you must have told him at some point….'

A deeper voice broke in. 'Polyjuice perhaps?…. worn off… maybe some new trick of Voldemort's… lasts longer….?'

A gasp. Harry guessed that that had been Madame Pomfrey, and wondered who else was in the wing with him that they were talking about. Someone suspicious, obviously. He listened harder.

'Mentioned Lupin, Headmaster…. The Order…. Insistent you be told…'

The deep voice sounded concerned. '… said he had talked about Vol… oh, alright, You-Know-Who… dead?!?'

Was the deeper voice Dumbledore? And whom were they talking about? Harry was beginning to feel concerned. This was a strange conversation indeed. Perhaps the bits he couldn't make out made it make sense. What he would give for an Extendable Ear or two!

The voices were moving closer to him. 'And such a curious scar… a curse scar, perhaps? Leave me with him, Poppy, I will question him when he awakens.'

They were definitely next to him, now. Harry heard the clack of Madame Pomfrey's heels, echoing in the quiet hospital wing as she left the room. Who on earth were they talking about?

He felt more awake now. Maybe he would be able to go and find Dumbledore, to go and rescue his friends. He refused to believe they were dead… They were not dead! With a gasp, he forced his eyes open, to be met with a very recognizable face.

'But you can't be!'

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A/N: Hahaha! A cliffhanger! Although probably quite an obvious one. Anyway, hit review and give me your thoughts!

Review responses:

**wolfawaken: **Thanks for reviewing both chapters. I hope this one is long enough for you - they will probably continue to get longer!

**Verpoort: **Here's some more for you!

**HaRrYrOxMuhSoX: **I'm glad you like my writing. I'm hoping to update pretty often.

**Anonymoos: **I have a plot in the workings, so hopefully this story will be an intriguing mystery for all who read it. I'm sorry, but as you can see, all your guesses were wrong!

Thanks to all my reviewers, I hope you carry on enjoying this story!


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